The lower Manhattan skyline, with the 110 story World Trade Centers in the center, as seen from under the Brooklyn Bridge on April 22, 2001.

New York was the first major city I ever visited. I grew up in a small town in the Tampa Bay area. Tampa is a very small city; it's more like a large town. I was awestruck by the size and scope of New York. It was June of 1980 and I was on my way to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

I made a special trip to see New York City, New York while I was on vacation in Boston during the shooting of Edge of Darkness. I had not been to NYC since 1982. I wanted to see the skyline again and feel the vibe of being in such a great city. I wanted to get some pictures of all the great architecture that New York so visually and viscerally represents.

We started on the Brooklyn side of the Hudson River to get shots of the Manhattan skyline. We had as a guide a person who spent many of her childhood years in Brooklyn. We walked around the Brooklyn Heights area so we could see the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and the lower Manhattan skyline.

The 110 story World Trade Center buildings as viewed from the ground level on West Street. The North Tower (with the antenna) was the first hit and the second to collapse. I am thankful I made the trip when I did. I was in Boston again when the attacks took place. If I had waited for this trip to go to NYC, it would have been too late.

Times Square - New York City - April 2001

These were my thoughts as expressed on my company's web site on the day of the WTC attacks.

I would like to take this moment to express my feelings about the unprecedented events of the day. I cannot understate the previously unrealized the impact of what we do each has on those around us. As in the movie 6 Degrees of Separation, we are more closely tied together than most of us realize in our day to day lives. We all know someone who was effected directly or indirectly by today's tragedies. Have no doubt about it, we are at war!

We have to realize how information can be the key to settle things down or riling things up. I tried to get information online and was not surprised to see that the internet, cell phone and land line networks were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of requests for information. We have to be a source information, both good and bad to those who are seeking it. We have to minimize the effect of a single or series or events has on our abilities to communicate.

I will speak more on this subject as the days unfold and we learn more about what has transpired today. Needless to say, we were all changed by what we saw, heard, and felt today.

I promise all of my efforts and abilities to react to this and future events, both personally and professionally, and hope you will do the same. I wish you all the best and God Bless America and those of the world who are willing to make a stand against those who would take all that we all hold dear!

If you are one of those who take part in these kinds of acts or support those who do, we will get you and make you pay!